I have been extremely busy since the last installment of Modern Portland! To make this a simpler read, and for fear of making this entry too long, I will divide updates into incremental "GOOD NEWS" and "BAD NEWS" blurts:
GOOD NEWS: Part 3 of Episode 1 (Portlanded) is in production! I have found a lovely couple that work at a rather prestigious K-12 school together. They are 50-something's (or close to it), empty nesters, and they have lived in Portland, OR their whole lives! That is huge! I was extremely worried I would not be able to find them! Luckily, I made the right contacts and asked at the right times :-)
BAD NEWS: This next video is going to take me a while to produce. If I get it down before January that would be miraculous! 2011 is winding down but everybody, including myself, just seem to be getting more and more busy! Another factor as to why the predicted delay in the next release is because....
GOOD NEWS: I got a job! It was not as difficult as I thought it would be... I went through a temp agency provided by a good friend. She had some inside contacts at this place and put in a good word for me. In turn, I received an opportunity to interview at one of the more desirable businesses the temp agency works with. This means I will be able to sustain myself for just that much longer here in the NW. By the way, the job is full time.
BAD NEWS: I got a job! And it's full time. I am finally accepting how little time I am going to be able to invest into this important, personal project. Well, not that I'll be putting less work into each episode - I'll be spreading equal amount of work over more time to ensure the quality of each product I churn out.
GOOD NEWS: On a more personal note, I have finally found a place to start calling 'home'. Before, the place I was staying at was very temporary in my mind. about 80% of my things remained packed for the two months I lived in Portland. The house is still in SE and I am rooming with two young men with similar interests as me. Overall, I'm finding myself feeling more comfortable under this roof, and I now am inclined to start on other, not so long-term, projects.
BAD NEWS: None actually! That's about it as far as updating whoever reads this thing on where I'm at in my little pet-project! Well, there's also this next part:
GOOD NEWS: My friend over at Blurred Lens Productions finally released the trailer for his documentary he's been working on for a full year which he has entitled CHASING SARASOTA! I mention this because it has been a fun thing I have stumbled into helping with since I've arrived in PDX... The full length documentary follows the local elite ultimate club team, PDX Rhino, through their 2011 season highlighting the ups and downs of playing in one of the most difficult (read: competitive) regions for the sport in the world. Here is the aforementioned trailer:
Please watch, comment, like, share... all the normal things you do with my videos! My prediction that this will be a huge leap forward for shedding some light on an otherwise obscure sport - A.K.A. A HUGE DEAL!
HERE is the Facebook page - LIKE IT. HERE is the Twitter - FOLLOW IT. Matt has become an invaluable resource for me and a good friend: Helping him out is helping me.
And a little bonus! Even though I came in late in assisting in my buddy Matt's excellent project I still managed to get a shout out on the Skyd Magazine's "Chasing Sarasota" director interview! I suggest you read the whole thing; it's great... but if you're not into that, my mention is about half way down the page towards the end of the interview. Thanks for the credit, Matt - even for as little as I did :-)
WHEW!
With a final score of GOOD NEWS [4] to BAD NEWS [2] I'd say that things are going pretty well in this little slice of heaven :-)
Portland Fact: Portland resides in Multnomah County, OR, and even though it is the smallest county in the state it is also the most populated! [source]
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Part 2: Ready for Viewing!
And here it is:
Whew! That was a lot tougher that Part 1... It was a good 'tougher', though :-)
I definitely had to power through yesterday to finish editing this piece. I will have to be more conscious of audio while out on the field. Other than the obvious problems that were detailed in my previous post, I discovered that the wireless mic I borrowed from my friend, Matt from Blurred Lens Production, was much more sensitive than my wired H1 Zoom rig. Of course, I could not have guessed that would happen but I should have at least noted that something was amiss from my first failed interview with Brad and Kristin.
Brad and Kristin were the couple I needed for this installment. I believe that they did a great job of representing the average PDX couple: They do cool things, have unique jobs, raising a family, very realistic.
Part 3 will begin sometime next week. Unfortunately for me, I have caught my roommate's head cold that he had just gotten over yesterday. It's a terrible feeling - being sick when you know there is so much to be done. Just have to power through like most everything...
Portland Fact: The mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, won his four year term in 2008 by receiving 58% of the vote while up against 12 other mayoral contenders... pretty convincing victory, if you ask me! [source]
Whew! That was a lot tougher that Part 1... It was a good 'tougher', though :-)
I definitely had to power through yesterday to finish editing this piece. I will have to be more conscious of audio while out on the field. Other than the obvious problems that were detailed in my previous post, I discovered that the wireless mic I borrowed from my friend, Matt from Blurred Lens Production, was much more sensitive than my wired H1 Zoom rig. Of course, I could not have guessed that would happen but I should have at least noted that something was amiss from my first failed interview with Brad and Kristin.
Brad and Kristin were the couple I needed for this installment. I believe that they did a great job of representing the average PDX couple: They do cool things, have unique jobs, raising a family, very realistic.
Part 3 will begin sometime next week. Unfortunately for me, I have caught my roommate's head cold that he had just gotten over yesterday. It's a terrible feeling - being sick when you know there is so much to be done. Just have to power through like most everything...
Portland Fact: The mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, won his four year term in 2008 by receiving 58% of the vote while up against 12 other mayoral contenders... pretty convincing victory, if you ask me! [source]
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Part 2: In Progress...
I've dropped hints in the last couple days that I had hit some snags filming part two of episode one. Here's what happened:
To start, I was being way too picky about my time frame. Both for when I wanted the second installment to be released and the personal time frame of the subjects I was looking to interview. Once I relaxed on both of those points things went a lot smoother.
I came across a couple (through a friend of a friend of a friend (!)) that fit the bill perfectly; established in PDX, young children, have jobs, have awesome hobbies, etc. They live in North Portland so it's been taxing to find my way out there - definitely least familiar with this quadrant out of all of them! My new phone has been extremely handy in these instances! It really has replaced my old GPS, so I'm thankful for that.
Admittedly, the first interview with them was scheduled for disaster, and it's mostly my fault. The wife/mother has been excellent on communicating with me and recognizing what I need from her. I was spoiled with Marianne being my first interview subject; she and I already had a great rapport and I had plenty of time to explain to her exactly what I needed. With this new couple I only did email. It would have been smarter to have a sit down with them first, you know, get to know them.
Here's what went down: The interview was set for a couple days ago after they both got off of work. They wanted to meet me in this beautiful park up in North Quadrant at 5:30pm. Checking a few weather website I found that the sun was supposed to set sometime around 6:10pm... that was my first anxious doubt I had for this one; running out of sunlight. Oh well, I was just glad to finally have the next part rolling! I get there early hoping against hope that they would show up early. They showed up exactly when they said they would (which is fine) and darn it if they didn't bring the whole family! Even the dog! So I had those distractions to fight. Reminder: This is all going on in my head - these people I was meeting up with for the first time could not have been more friendly and forgiving!
What followed was a mess of distracted microphone attaching, distant small talk and an obviously ill-prepared question lineup from yours truly. I had picked up a second wireless mic from a production buddy of mine who was generous enough to offer his equipment to me as long as there were not schedule conflicts. The mic I borrowed was beautiful! So nice! While I use my archaic set up that honestly probably cost the same amount (wish I had thought that through) I fumbled making sure the one I was not familiar with was in working order that I flubbed up and didn't even turn MY OWN lav mic on! But don't worry - my H1 Zoom got all 16 minutes of the interview from inside the husband's/dad's pocket...
After the interview was over, and I was sweating a little because I didn't exactly get what I was looking for on top of being distracted by the dog chasing squirrels, the oldest daughter running off and playing on the playground without supervision, and the 9-month-old bursting into tears at the end, I admitted that his microphone was not on and asked if we could reschedule... I'd ask right then and there but the sun had already set. Have I mentioned how amazing these two people are? Because they immediately started working with me to schedule a Saturday morning interview!
Incredible. I would like to thank Portland in part for the ability to harbor such nice, grounded people such as these two.
Just so the day was not a complete wash, I followed them back to their beautiful little house and witnessed a slice of their home life; they cooked dinner, showed me around the house, allowed me to film the kids playing - it was superb. There is one shot where they are all sitting around the dining room table and laughing whilst eating a frozen pizza. I know this will be my money shot to end the middle chapter of the first episode on.
I am in communication with both the husband/dad and wife/mother now. It will make things easier for when I get their individual b-roll. Some things I brought away from my first experience with an outside interview case are not to get too flustered. Meet them first and develop a relationship (time permitting). Personalize questions more! And, most importantly, start with a clear idea on what the episode is going to be about!!! I foolishly went in thinking I was going to wing some parts of it without knowing the circumstances of what will be happening during the actual interview! Now I know better... logged for next time.
Blanket statement: I will be concentrating more on having a family in the city of Portland and why it is a good place to raise your children. Whew! Glad I got that out there!
Some foreshadowing: I am in talks with my next potential interview subject. Part three might be released in a more timely fashion than part two has been. I can hardly believe it's been two weeks since the first episode premiered! Time flies when you're living your dream :-)
PDX Fact: The city of Portland has nine sister cities spread out all around the world! They include Ashkelon (Isreal), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Ulsan (South Korea), Mutare (Zimbabwe), Guadalajara (Mexico), Khabarovsk (Russia), Sapporo (Japan), Suzhou (China), and Bologna (Italy)! Sister cities are partnerships between two different cities with similar standards in geographically and politically distinct areas to cross promote cultural and commercial ties. Don't forget that PDX has a "Friendship city" relationship with Tallinn (Estonia) too! How pleasant :-D [source]
To start, I was being way too picky about my time frame. Both for when I wanted the second installment to be released and the personal time frame of the subjects I was looking to interview. Once I relaxed on both of those points things went a lot smoother.
I came across a couple (through a friend of a friend of a friend (!)) that fit the bill perfectly; established in PDX, young children, have jobs, have awesome hobbies, etc. They live in North Portland so it's been taxing to find my way out there - definitely least familiar with this quadrant out of all of them! My new phone has been extremely handy in these instances! It really has replaced my old GPS, so I'm thankful for that.
Admittedly, the first interview with them was scheduled for disaster, and it's mostly my fault. The wife/mother has been excellent on communicating with me and recognizing what I need from her. I was spoiled with Marianne being my first interview subject; she and I already had a great rapport and I had plenty of time to explain to her exactly what I needed. With this new couple I only did email. It would have been smarter to have a sit down with them first, you know, get to know them.
Here's what went down: The interview was set for a couple days ago after they both got off of work. They wanted to meet me in this beautiful park up in North Quadrant at 5:30pm. Checking a few weather website I found that the sun was supposed to set sometime around 6:10pm... that was my first anxious doubt I had for this one; running out of sunlight. Oh well, I was just glad to finally have the next part rolling! I get there early hoping against hope that they would show up early. They showed up exactly when they said they would (which is fine) and darn it if they didn't bring the whole family! Even the dog! So I had those distractions to fight. Reminder: This is all going on in my head - these people I was meeting up with for the first time could not have been more friendly and forgiving!
What followed was a mess of distracted microphone attaching, distant small talk and an obviously ill-prepared question lineup from yours truly. I had picked up a second wireless mic from a production buddy of mine who was generous enough to offer his equipment to me as long as there were not schedule conflicts. The mic I borrowed was beautiful! So nice! While I use my archaic set up that honestly probably cost the same amount (wish I had thought that through) I fumbled making sure the one I was not familiar with was in working order that I flubbed up and didn't even turn MY OWN lav mic on! But don't worry - my H1 Zoom got all 16 minutes of the interview from inside the husband's/dad's pocket...
After the interview was over, and I was sweating a little because I didn't exactly get what I was looking for on top of being distracted by the dog chasing squirrels, the oldest daughter running off and playing on the playground without supervision, and the 9-month-old bursting into tears at the end, I admitted that his microphone was not on and asked if we could reschedule... I'd ask right then and there but the sun had already set. Have I mentioned how amazing these two people are? Because they immediately started working with me to schedule a Saturday morning interview!
Incredible. I would like to thank Portland in part for the ability to harbor such nice, grounded people such as these two.
Just so the day was not a complete wash, I followed them back to their beautiful little house and witnessed a slice of their home life; they cooked dinner, showed me around the house, allowed me to film the kids playing - it was superb. There is one shot where they are all sitting around the dining room table and laughing whilst eating a frozen pizza. I know this will be my money shot to end the middle chapter of the first episode on.
I am in communication with both the husband/dad and wife/mother now. It will make things easier for when I get their individual b-roll. Some things I brought away from my first experience with an outside interview case are not to get too flustered. Meet them first and develop a relationship (time permitting). Personalize questions more! And, most importantly, start with a clear idea on what the episode is going to be about!!! I foolishly went in thinking I was going to wing some parts of it without knowing the circumstances of what will be happening during the actual interview! Now I know better... logged for next time.
Blanket statement: I will be concentrating more on having a family in the city of Portland and why it is a good place to raise your children. Whew! Glad I got that out there!
Some foreshadowing: I am in talks with my next potential interview subject. Part three might be released in a more timely fashion than part two has been. I can hardly believe it's been two weeks since the first episode premiered! Time flies when you're living your dream :-)
PDX Fact: The city of Portland has nine sister cities spread out all around the world! They include Ashkelon (Isreal), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Ulsan (South Korea), Mutare (Zimbabwe), Guadalajara (Mexico), Khabarovsk (Russia), Sapporo (Japan), Suzhou (China), and Bologna (Italy)! Sister cities are partnerships between two different cities with similar standards in geographically and politically distinct areas to cross promote cultural and commercial ties. Don't forget that PDX has a "Friendship city" relationship with Tallinn (Estonia) too! How pleasant :-D [source]
Friday, October 14, 2011
Episode 1: Part 1
Up and available for viewing as of last night :-)
Feedback has so far been 100% positive!... but that's also primarily friends and family.
The subject, Marianne, is a good friend of mine and was kind enough to be the guinea pig for my first episode. I am happy with how it turned out. I feel I should have been more meticulous with the interview process: I forgot to ask her to do a few things that would have made editing easier, but that is my fault. I honestly lucked out having Marianne for the first episode - the perfect subject for Part 1. I learned a lot of how I'm going to do subsequent Modern Portland's from her so a big thanks to Marianne. Other well deserved thanks can be seen in the end credits on the first video. I need to especially thank the people that helped me get permission to shoot at Pacific University Oregon on such short notice.
Plugging the video into the social network pipeline has been harder than I thought it would be. I need to hit up forums and the like its just I really don't know which ones are the right ones since I'm so new to the area. I'm hesitant to just hit all of them up for fear of being overwhelmed. Probably my second weakest trait for the series. My first? Sales.
I haven't really 'sold' the marketing potential that Modern Portland has to anybody yet. It's just not my thing! Sales to me is hard - I know I have a good product and it'd be other humans that I'm selling to... humans just like me, that have gone out on a limb and really put themselves out there professionally, but it isn't something I'm comfortable doing. I really am scared of not being able to do that part of it at all. Grants are my next best bet. I met a guy at ultimate frisbee pick-up named Dan, and he seemed conveniently knowledgeable about different organizations that would be interested in giving me a grant or two to do what I'm doing. I gave him my email but have not heard from him. I need to get on that...
Speaking of need to get a move on... the second episode has more or less hit a wall. I need to be more vigilant on my search for people to interview. I feel that these first 3 parts are going to be the hardest. Maybe I should loosen up some parameters on this second episode. I was being pretty specific. I am looking for a couple, low to mid 30's, both employed, a young kid was 'optional' (for my purposes :-P), and have lived in the city for 3 - 5 years. I met up with my new documentary film buddy, Matt, today to help him shoot for his Rhino doc and he had another captain of the team there with him, Mario. Mario brought up a good point: Most people move to Portland in their 20's, so you would be hard fought to find 30-somethings that have only been here for that short amount of time. I am going to touch base with the captain of Tire Fire, Mike, about getting in touch with some older couples. He seems pretty established and has a 9-year-old kid. He is also a teacher and would know a lot of families. I would ask him to be my next focus but I need to try to reach out beyond the ultimate community.
Overall, it does not look like Modern Portland will be a weekly thing... at least not yet: I'd need to establish a pretty good rhythm for that to happen and it might be possible later on down the road. But not now. Right now I need to concentrate on making a quality product, using local resources, and saving personal resources.
Portland Facts: Portland is actually very well known for having so many nicknames! A few good ones are Stumptown, Bridgetown, Little Beirut (?), Beervania, Beertown, P-Town, Soccer City USA, Portlandia, PDX, and the most common, The City of Roses, which became the official nickname in 2003. [source]
Feedback has so far been 100% positive!... but that's also primarily friends and family.
The subject, Marianne, is a good friend of mine and was kind enough to be the guinea pig for my first episode. I am happy with how it turned out. I feel I should have been more meticulous with the interview process: I forgot to ask her to do a few things that would have made editing easier, but that is my fault. I honestly lucked out having Marianne for the first episode - the perfect subject for Part 1. I learned a lot of how I'm going to do subsequent Modern Portland's from her so a big thanks to Marianne. Other well deserved thanks can be seen in the end credits on the first video. I need to especially thank the people that helped me get permission to shoot at Pacific University Oregon on such short notice.
Plugging the video into the social network pipeline has been harder than I thought it would be. I need to hit up forums and the like its just I really don't know which ones are the right ones since I'm so new to the area. I'm hesitant to just hit all of them up for fear of being overwhelmed. Probably my second weakest trait for the series. My first? Sales.
I haven't really 'sold' the marketing potential that Modern Portland has to anybody yet. It's just not my thing! Sales to me is hard - I know I have a good product and it'd be other humans that I'm selling to... humans just like me, that have gone out on a limb and really put themselves out there professionally, but it isn't something I'm comfortable doing. I really am scared of not being able to do that part of it at all. Grants are my next best bet. I met a guy at ultimate frisbee pick-up named Dan, and he seemed conveniently knowledgeable about different organizations that would be interested in giving me a grant or two to do what I'm doing. I gave him my email but have not heard from him. I need to get on that...
Speaking of need to get a move on... the second episode has more or less hit a wall. I need to be more vigilant on my search for people to interview. I feel that these first 3 parts are going to be the hardest. Maybe I should loosen up some parameters on this second episode. I was being pretty specific. I am looking for a couple, low to mid 30's, both employed, a young kid was 'optional' (for my purposes :-P), and have lived in the city for 3 - 5 years. I met up with my new documentary film buddy, Matt, today to help him shoot for his Rhino doc and he had another captain of the team there with him, Mario. Mario brought up a good point: Most people move to Portland in their 20's, so you would be hard fought to find 30-somethings that have only been here for that short amount of time. I am going to touch base with the captain of Tire Fire, Mike, about getting in touch with some older couples. He seems pretty established and has a 9-year-old kid. He is also a teacher and would know a lot of families. I would ask him to be my next focus but I need to try to reach out beyond the ultimate community.
Overall, it does not look like Modern Portland will be a weekly thing... at least not yet: I'd need to establish a pretty good rhythm for that to happen and it might be possible later on down the road. But not now. Right now I need to concentrate on making a quality product, using local resources, and saving personal resources.
Portland Facts: Portland is actually very well known for having so many nicknames! A few good ones are Stumptown, Bridgetown, Little Beirut (?), Beervania, Beertown, P-Town, Soccer City USA, Portlandia, PDX, and the most common, The City of Roses, which became the official nickname in 2003. [source]
Monday, October 10, 2011
First Episode Oct 13th!
Oh geez... that's not that far away, either!
I had my first 'on the field' experience with all my new equipment last Thursday. I followed around a grad student that is originally from the Midwest and is new to Portland. She will be the subject for the first part (of three) of the first episode. I have to say that it went really well! I always shoot too much video so I won't get to use 85% of it, but that's alright. Stock footage!
This was what my first day shooting was like:
I'm going all out for this video. I'm getting b-roll of stuff I don't necessarily have to get - makes it feel more complete. And I want this to be complete. I worry that I won't have as much time for my next part (2 of 3) for the first episode, but I'll just have to pull it together. I hope to get all 3 parts of the first episode out over the next 3 Thursdays. That's one a week! I have to do this for myself though. I have to see if I can handle such a grueling schedule. It might not sound it, but it is quite grueling for just one person to get everything you need for something like I'm doing and turn it over and out in that time frame and still have it be a quality product.
Editing has been a chore for sure. I keep finding things I can make better now that I have the time to produce in post. Overall, I know this is going to come down to the wire. I wanted to have a tease for the first episode done by today, but editing for this first episode keeps taking priority. For tonight, I believe I'm going to try to complete it as much as I can (with only 2 things left to shoot) and then work on a tease from the ground up tomorrow first thing. Should be done by the end of the business day... Like I said; it's hard doing this by yourself...
Blog Post Afterthoughts: Having the audio and video collected seperately has not been as hard as I thought it would be. ALSO! I am now being followed by the Mayor of Portland, Sam Adams! This of course after being turned down for an interview... I'll get him for a future episode though, for sure :-)
Portland Fact: Portland was named after the town in Maine after Francis Pettygrove, one of the city founders, won a coin toss and go to name is after his hometown! The other founder, Asa Lovejoy, wanted to name it after his hometown of Boston. The coin they flipped to make the decision is called the "Portland Penny" and is on display at the Oregon Historical Society Museum.
I had my first 'on the field' experience with all my new equipment last Thursday. I followed around a grad student that is originally from the Midwest and is new to Portland. She will be the subject for the first part (of three) of the first episode. I have to say that it went really well! I always shoot too much video so I won't get to use 85% of it, but that's alright. Stock footage!
This was what my first day shooting was like:
- I got up at 5:30am and made myself presentable.
- Rigged up a carrying strap for my tripod (looks awesome).
- Got to the subject of Ep1:Pt1's house at 6:30am.
- She left for the bus at 7am.
- Followed her on to the bus and got a day-pass.
- Rode ~25mins to Pioneer Square.
- Got on the Max & rode for ~45mins.
- Got to her college and hit a snag...
So, I enter the building with the subject and we are immediately greeted by a security guard. He asked if we had permission and we said, "Not really" kind of coyly. I had to stop filming at that moment but getting the subject in the classroom was essential (though I didn't really think so at the time). The guard let us go up to a person's office that could help us. From there we were led to numerous people all bending over backwards to get help me get what I needed. It was actually a fantastic experience, even though I'm not a fan of bureaucracy. The people of this university never made me feel like I was inconveniencing them at all - very polite, proactive, and courteous. End result was I ended up staying/following the subject around all day, in the classroom, in a lab, and even got to relax and talk to her on the ride home. I got tons of great footage and she gave me a great interview at the end of the day!
I'm going all out for this video. I'm getting b-roll of stuff I don't necessarily have to get - makes it feel more complete. And I want this to be complete. I worry that I won't have as much time for my next part (2 of 3) for the first episode, but I'll just have to pull it together. I hope to get all 3 parts of the first episode out over the next 3 Thursdays. That's one a week! I have to do this for myself though. I have to see if I can handle such a grueling schedule. It might not sound it, but it is quite grueling for just one person to get everything you need for something like I'm doing and turn it over and out in that time frame and still have it be a quality product.
Editing has been a chore for sure. I keep finding things I can make better now that I have the time to produce in post. Overall, I know this is going to come down to the wire. I wanted to have a tease for the first episode done by today, but editing for this first episode keeps taking priority. For tonight, I believe I'm going to try to complete it as much as I can (with only 2 things left to shoot) and then work on a tease from the ground up tomorrow first thing. Should be done by the end of the business day... Like I said; it's hard doing this by yourself...
Blog Post Afterthoughts: Having the audio and video collected seperately has not been as hard as I thought it would be. ALSO! I am now being followed by the Mayor of Portland, Sam Adams! This of course after being turned down for an interview... I'll get him for a future episode though, for sure :-)
Portland Fact: Portland was named after the town in Maine after Francis Pettygrove, one of the city founders, won a coin toss and go to name is after his hometown! The other founder, Asa Lovejoy, wanted to name it after his hometown of Boston. The coin they flipped to make the decision is called the "Portland Penny" and is on display at the Oregon Historical Society Museum.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Portlanded
Things are really moving along! In these past weeks I've:
... regarding Mayor Sam Adams; I will get him in another episode for sure :-)
Pretty fantastic if you ask me. A fun story I'd like to share about the :30 teaser trailer (the Fremont Bridge): I had just bought both my camera and my tripod and having bought my laptop the day before I found a nice coffee place to do some Modern Portland networking. After sitting there for a while I looked up and though, "I have what I need to shoot a teaser trailer... why don't I do that?!" The sun was on it's way down and I probably had half an hour of sunlight left. The only acceptable shot was of the Fremont Bridge, since that is the one on my Logo. That particular bridge is the second most Northern bridge in the whole city! I'm sitting at the corner of SW 4th Ave and SW Adler St! I had a decision to make; run and beat the sun or shrug my shoulders and save it for another day. Side note - I was not driving to the Fremont Bridge. Traffic would have been terrible! I throw my laptop in my car and run to the river. I turn North and start sprinting! The sun is already behind the buildings to my left... I ask some passing bikers if I'm going the right way. They say, "Yeah, but you'll want to get higher than river level to get a good shot! YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT" [Ed.: So they didn't actually say that last part, but it definitely makes writing this more fun!] After running for what felt like eternity (in my street clothes, camera and tripod in hand, gasping for breath) I finally make it to the Broadway Bridge! It's just South of the Fremont Bridge. I set up on the side facing my prize view just as the sun hits the Fremont Bridge and calls for some fantastic lighting! The camera did not capture how sweet it looked. I was standing there as bikers passed me on the bridge laughing to myself... I probably looked like a mad man! But that's alright; I had the entire walk back to my car to just be smug for myself ;-) After getting home, I check out how far I actually ran. It was just over a mile! Good thing I've gotten into jogging this past year! All in all, it's a memory that won't be fading any time soon...
Last Thursday marked a big day for me: I finally bought all necessary equipment to start shooting! Here is my Equipment Listing Video (posted from my personal channel):
Pretty interesting stuff, eh? Yeah, ok, not really... I think you have to appreciate video production. But trust me, this is all good stuff. Here are some specifics:
- Bought all necessary equipment
- Shot and edited 2 (a :30 and a :15) teaser trailers
- Made an equipment listing video
- Set a date for the first episode
- Got shot down by the office of the mayor for an interview
... regarding Mayor Sam Adams; I will get him in another episode for sure :-)
Personally, the housing situation is still pseudo up in the air. I'm at a house right now, but just for the month of October. I'm hoping these two guys that I'm talking to will get back to me. They're month-to-month and looking to get out of the Pearl District because rent is too high there.
Still haven't talked pricing with any businesses yet. I have 3 business cards currently waiting to be used, but they just sit there. I'm waiting until I have more to show for and maybe that will get them a better idea of what I'm going for. That's what I'm telling myself anyway. Honestly, that part is my least favorite out of all this. Sales just isn't my thing. I'm making myself do this, though, because, after all, I believe in the product!
Speaking of 'The Product', here are my two teaser trailers that were done with Adobe Premiere:
Pretty fantastic if you ask me. A fun story I'd like to share about the :30 teaser trailer (the Fremont Bridge): I had just bought both my camera and my tripod and having bought my laptop the day before I found a nice coffee place to do some Modern Portland networking. After sitting there for a while I looked up and though, "I have what I need to shoot a teaser trailer... why don't I do that?!" The sun was on it's way down and I probably had half an hour of sunlight left. The only acceptable shot was of the Fremont Bridge, since that is the one on my Logo. That particular bridge is the second most Northern bridge in the whole city! I'm sitting at the corner of SW 4th Ave and SW Adler St! I had a decision to make; run and beat the sun or shrug my shoulders and save it for another day. Side note - I was not driving to the Fremont Bridge. Traffic would have been terrible! I throw my laptop in my car and run to the river. I turn North and start sprinting! The sun is already behind the buildings to my left... I ask some passing bikers if I'm going the right way. They say, "Yeah, but you'll want to get higher than river level to get a good shot! YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT" [Ed.: So they didn't actually say that last part, but it definitely makes writing this more fun!] After running for what felt like eternity (in my street clothes, camera and tripod in hand, gasping for breath) I finally make it to the Broadway Bridge! It's just South of the Fremont Bridge. I set up on the side facing my prize view just as the sun hits the Fremont Bridge and calls for some fantastic lighting! The camera did not capture how sweet it looked. I was standing there as bikers passed me on the bridge laughing to myself... I probably looked like a mad man! But that's alright; I had the entire walk back to my car to just be smug for myself ;-) After getting home, I check out how far I actually ran. It was just over a mile! Good thing I've gotten into jogging this past year! All in all, it's a memory that won't be fading any time soon...
Last Thursday marked a big day for me: I finally bought all necessary equipment to start shooting! Here is my Equipment Listing Video (posted from my personal channel):
Pretty interesting stuff, eh? Yeah, ok, not really... I think you have to appreciate video production. But trust me, this is all good stuff. Here are some specifics:
- Sony a55 with a 18-70mm lens
- 16gb SD card in the camera
- QuantaRay tripod + monopod
- Asus Republic of Gamers Laptop
- Intel quadcore i7 processor
- Nvidia Geforce GTX graphic card
- 1tb harddrive
- Adobe CS5 installed (includes Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, etc.)
- Logitech Wireless trackball M570 mouse
- A Zoom H1 handheld recording device
- 16gb miniSD card in that
- Audiotechnica Pro70 wired Lav Mic
- 10 ft of XLR cable
- 3 pin XLR to 3.5mm jack adapter
And that's about it!
Tomorrow is a big day. I have my first interview. I've decided to split the first interview up into 3 parts. The first part is the interview I'm doing tomorrow: the Newcomer to Portland episode. I actually still have to find someone that's been here for a few years with a significant other, and a family that has been here their whole life. I feel the latter might be tougher than the former. But that is for another day! I have the first interview tomorrow and we will just have to go from there!
The first episode will premiere on October 13th. It will be entitled
Modern Portland: The Series Has Portlanded! pt 1 of 3!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Modern Portland: A Series of Short Films
This YouTube video project looks to document what makes Portland, OR great! Whether it be weird, cool, funny, serious, or inspiring Modern Portland wants to capture it in a series of Documentary Shorts.
During each episode we will be diving into a subculture of Portland and exploring the people that make what they do (and where they do it) possible.
The first season is looking to be launched mid-October. The first episode will be entitled "The Series has Portlanded"... Stay tune!
"Modern Portland believes in the idea that everybody belongs somewhere. The purpose of this documentary series is to help those that belong in this fantastic city find their home"
YouTube
Facebook Page
Twitter
Please like/fav/follow/subscribe to my links above! Thank you!
Launching in mid-October! Stay tuned...
During each episode we will be diving into a subculture of Portland and exploring the people that make what they do (and where they do it) possible.
The first season is looking to be launched mid-October. The first episode will be entitled "The Series has Portlanded"... Stay tune!
"Modern Portland believes in the idea that everybody belongs somewhere. The purpose of this documentary series is to help those that belong in this fantastic city find their home"
YouTube
Facebook Page
Please like/fav/follow/subscribe to my links above! Thank you!
Launching in mid-October! Stay tuned...
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